Foldable kite and rocket launching means therefor

ABSTRACT

A foldable kite adapted to be compactly arranged in a manner to have a small cross section for storage within the hollow interior of a minature, toy-like rocket having a rocket engine in the normally rearward end thereof and the opposite end of the rocket body having a conical nose removably mounted therein. The folded kite is positioned adjacent to rocket engine and the normally outer end of the rocket body has a compactly folded parachute stored therein and connected to the body of the rocket as well as to said nose. The rocket engine has a delay charge therein which, when the rocket has been projected to a predetermined height is fired automatically to project the nose and the parachute which is connected thereto, as well as the kite, and a tether cord extends from the kite down to a compact arrangement of such cord adapted to rapidly pay out as the rocket and kite ascend but permit a person to control the flight of the kite by said cord, while the rocket is recovered due to the parachute permitting its gradual decent without injury.

United States Patent [191 McKenzie, Sr.

[ 1 Jan. 22, 1974 FOLDABLE KITE AND ROCKET LAUNCHING MEANS THEREFOR [76] Inventor: James H. McKenzie, Sr., 1202 W.

King St., York, Pa. 17404 [22] Filed: Sept. 13, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 288,744

[52] US. Cl. 244/155 R, 46/86 C, 46/74 A,

[51] Int. Cl A63h 27/08 [58] Field of Search 244/153 A, 153 R, 155;

46/74 R, 74 A, 74 B, 74 C, 86 R, 86 A, 86 B, 86 C; 124/11 R; 102/34.1, 34.4

Primary Examiner-Trygve M. Blix Assistant ExaminerDonald W. Underwood Attorney, Agent, or Firm-C. Hercus Just [5 7] ABSTRACT A foldable kite adapted to be compactly arranged in a manner to have a small cross section for storage within the hollow interior of a minature, toy-like rocket having a rocket engine in the normally rear ward end thereof and the opposite end of the rocket body having a conical nose removably mounted therein. The folded kite is positioned adjacent to rocket engine and the normally outer end of the rocket body has a compactly folded parachute stored therein and connected to the body of the rocket as well as to said nose. The rocket engine has a delay charge therein which, when the rocket has been projected to a predetermined height is fired automatically to project the nose and the parachute which is connected thereto, as well as the kite, and a tether cord extends from the kite down to a compact arrangement of such cord adapted to rapidly pay out as the rocket and kite ascend but permit a person to control the flight of the kite by said cord, while the rocket is re covered due to the parachute permitting its gradual decent without injury.

5 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PAIENTED JAN 2 21974 SHEET 1 BF 2 PAIENTED JANE? 3, 7 87, 013

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Minature or toy-like rockets are very popular with many individuals at present. As a result, quite a number of rocket structures comprise the subject of issued patents covering the combination of recovering parachutes connected to the bodies and nose members of the rocket. Examples of such US. Pat. comprise No. 2,841,084, to Carlisle, dated July 1, 1958, and No. 3,292,302, to Estes et al., dated Dec. 20, 1966. Foldable kites of various kinds also have been developed and comprise the subject of issued US Pat. such as No. 3,074,672, to Hanrahan, issued Jan. 22, 1963, and No. 3,279,726, to Mindiola, issued Oct. 18, 1966. Also, US. Pat. No. 2,386,762, to Wheelwright, issued. Oct. 16, 1945, discloses a foldable kite adapted to be compactly packaged separately from a rocket gun but con nected to the projectable rocket so that when the latter is fired, the kite is carried aloft and expands, said kite also being provided with an extendable tether connected to means accessible to the operator. No recovery means for the rocket are provided.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is the primiary object of the present invention to provide the combination of a foldable kite having a compactly arranged tether cord connected at one end to the kite and the other end being disposed compactly adjacent the launching site, the compactly arranged kite being disposed within the hollow interior of a minature toy-like rocket provided with a rocket engine at one end and a folded parachute positioned in the opposite, normally forward end thereof and connected to a projectable nose disposed in said forward end when the rocket is launched, whereby the rocket launches the kite and discharges it from the forward end of the rocket at an elevated height, while the parachute expands and permits the nose and rocket to descend safely from being elevated by the engine thereof and leaves the kite flying at its elevated positioned.

It is another object of the invention to arrange the compactly folded kite between the rocket engine and the folded parachute in the forward end of the rocket body, whereby a delay charge in the rocket engine ultimately fires and projects the kite against the parachute which in turn is projected against the nose and shoots these items from the body of the rocket in a manner to separate the inter-connected nose, parachute and rocket body from the kite which is then free to unfold and be held aloft by the wind while the rocket body, nose and parachute descend to the earth.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a soft wad within the parachute body adjacent the rocket engine and between said engine and the compactly folded kite, whereby the delay charge of the engine exhausts against the soft wad which then abuts the kite and the other elements ahead of the same in the rocket body to eject the same from the rocket body without injury thereto.

It is still another object of the invention to form the kite from thin, relatively tough synthetic resin sheet material which is very light in weight and adapted to be compactly folded into a very small cross sectional configuration, said kite also having a pluralityof stiffening members connected to the sheet of the kite and extending longitudinally thereof but spaced transversely apart to distribute the stiffening effect thereof while employing a minimum number of stiffening members, and bridle cord means respectively being connected to the opposite sides of the kite sheet and also to the tether cord to facilitate flying the kite.

Details of the foregoing objects and of the invention, as well as other objects thereof, are set forth in the following application and illustrated in the drawing accompanying the same and comprising a part thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a longitudinally sectioned vertical elevation of a exemplary minature rocket combining the principles of the present invention and illustrating components of the rocket including the engine and cone, between which a compactly folded kite and also a compactly folded parachute are contained for ejection from the forward end thereof when the delay charge in the rocket motor is fired, said figure also illustrating an exemplary tether cord connected at one end to the compactly folded kite and extending from the forward end of the rocket body down to an exemplary reel upon which the tether cord is compactly stored and from which it readily can be paid out.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary, exploded view, showing the inter-connected rocket body, nose and parachute in process of descending to the ground while an enlarged illustration of an exemplary kite is; shown in flying arrangement after being launched from the rocket body.

FIG. 3 is a vertical, longitudinally sectioned view showing an exemplary interior of the rocket engine mounted in the normally lower end of the rocket body.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view of an exemplary kite of the type shown in FIG. 2 but illustrated on a larger scale then employed in said figure in order to illustrate further details of stiffening means and a control bridle cord arrangement which is fragmentarily shown in said figure.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary side elevation of the kite shown in FIG. 4 disposed in compactly folded condition for purposes of inserting the same in the rocket body for storage therein until launched.

FIG. 6 is an exemplary cross sectional view of the folded kite shown in FIG. 5 as seen on the line 6-6 thereof, the illustration in FIG. 6 showing the various portions of the kite in somewhat partially expanded manner in order to facilitate illustration of one preferred manner of folding the kite.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to FIG. 1, the exemplary minature, toy-like rocket 10 comprises a tubular, preferably cylindrical body 12 which is formed from suitable light weight material such as certain types of sheet paper material, synthetic resin and the like. Light weight metal also may be employed if desired. The normally lower end 14 shown on the body 12 is provided with an exemplary rocket engine 16 of commerical type, details of which are shown in longitudinal cross section in FIG. 3. A plurality of suitable directing vanes 18 also are connected to the rocket body 12 in circumferentially spaced relationship, more than two such vanes preferably being provided.

The normally forward end 20 of the rocket body 12 has a pointed, somewhat conical nose member 22 frictionaly fitted therein in a manner to permit ready projection of the nose from the rocket body on the conditions described hereinafter. Also disposed within the forward end of the rocket body is a compactly folded parachute 24 having shroud lines 26 connected to the periphery of the parachute in conventional manner, said shroud lines also being gathered together at one end and are inter-connected, such as by an eyelet or ring 28 to the inner end of the nose 22 as clearly shown in FIG. 1.

The lower end 14 of the body 12, immediately adjacent the inner end of the engine 16 is provided with a soft wad 30 which is readily slideable within the interior of the body 12. Positioned between the wad 30 and the inner end of the compactly folded parachute 24 is a kite 32 which is rolled and or folded transversely so as to form a compact configuration having a small cross sectional area but such folded arrangement permitting ready expansion of the sheet of the kite into extended position, such as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4 when the kite has been projected from the forward end of the rocket body 12 in a manner to be described herinafter.

A shock cord 34 which preferably is of an elastic nature, is respectively connected at its opposite ends to the inner end of nose 22 and the inner surface of the forward end 20 of the rocket body 12. Accordingly, the

forward end 20 serves as connecting means between the body 12 and parachute 24 when said connected elements are descending as illustrated in exemplary manner in FIG. 2.

In FIG. 3, an exemplary interior arrangement of a conventional rocket engine is shown. In said view, the engine 16 comprises a cylindrical casing 36 which is formed from suitable material such as metal or otherwise. The lower end has a ceramic nozzle 38 therein having a conical central opening 40 formed in the same to permit the insertion of an igniter element, not shown. A charge of solid propellant 42 is disposed in the casing adjacent the inner end of nozzle 38 and adjacent the forward end of the charge 42 is a delay charge 44 which is adapted to be fired only after the rocket has been propelled to a substanial height in the atomsphere. Forward of the delay charge 44 is an ejection charge 46 which reacts against a retainer cap 48 which is frictionally fitted into the normally upper end of casing 36.

The kite 32 comprises a configurated sheet of preferably light weight, strong, flexible material, such as suitable synthetic resin cut or stamped to have the desired configuration which may be of a fanciful nature, for example, such as shown in exemplary manner in FIGS. 2 and 4. To enable the kite to be disposed in flying condition with wind projected against the same, the sheet of the kite 32 is rendered stiff at least in a longitudinal, vertical direction, by a plurality of light weight, stiffening members 50, such as thin strips of bamboo or other appropriate material, which are attached to one face of the sheet of the kite by appropriate adhesive or the like.

From FIGS. 2 and 4, it will be seen that the stiffening 7 members are spaced transversely apart and also preferably are spaced inwardly from the opposite side extremeties 52 of the kite sheet to which one end of each of a pair of bridle cords 54 are connected. The bridle cords 54 are of a predetermined length and the opposite ends thereof are connected together at 56 for additional connection to the light weight tether cord 58. For example, the tether cord 58 may comprise synthetic resinfish line of light gauge.

Referring to FIG. 1, it will be seen that a substanial supply of the tether cord 58 is disposed in compact fashion such as upon a rotatable spool 60, upon which two or three hundred feet of said cord, for example, may be wound. The spool is surported by an appropriate base 62 which may be mounted adjacent the launch site for the rocket 10. The end of the tether cord 58 which is connected to the kite extends from the spool to the forward end 20 of the rocket body 12 and is squeezed between the frictionally engaged portion of the nose 22 and the inner surface of the forward end 20 of the rocket tube 12, and a limited amount thereof extends past the compactly folded parachute 24 and it otherwise is disposed adjacent the bridle cords 54 arranged longitudinally along the folded kite 32 as shown in auxiliary manner in FIGS. 1 and 5, so as not to be entangled with the kite when the same is expelled from the forward end of the rocket body, such as when the ejection charge 46 is fired by the delay charge 44 after the rocket has been projected a substanial distance in the atomsphere by the charge 42 of solid propellant.

Referring to FIG. 6, a cross sectional, exemplary illustration is shown of one satisfactory manner of compactly folding or arranging the kite 32. To dispose the kite in such compacted form, it is preferred that the kite be folded upon itself along a central longitudinal line which will dispose the stiffening members 50 adjacent to each other and also superimpose the side extremeties 52 adjacent to each other. The folded edge 64 of the kite sheet 32, such as shown in exemplary manner in FIG. 6, then is coiled inwardly until the stiffening members 50 are caused to encircle the coiled core of the arrangement, following which the outer edge portions of the kite sheet which terminate in the side extremeties 52, then are arranged somewhat sinuously as also illustrated in exemplary manner in FIG. 6 and said sinuous arrangement then is compactly pressed against the coiled central portion of the kite sheet so as to form a compact cross section which is much more closely and tightly arranged than illustrated in the exemplary showing in FIG. 6. In said figure, the illustration is somewhat expanded in order that the various lines representing portions of the sheet may be visualized. Upon such compact arrangement being formed, as shown in FIG. 5 for example, the bridle cords 54 than are arranged along the compact configuration of the kite and are inserted with the kite longitudinally into the interior of rocket body 12 until the inner end thereof engages the soft wad 30 within the body, the tether cord 58 than extending toward and outwardly from the forward end 20 of the rocket body and downwardly to the storage spool 60.

Following the mounting of the kite 32 within the rocket body 10, if desired, a short separating wad 66 is disposed against the upper end of the compactly folded kite 32, following which the compactly folded parachute 24 is inserted into the forward end 20 of the rocket body, the shock cord 34 also being carefully inserted within the forward end of the rocket body incident to the inner end of the nose 22 being frictionally disposed in closed relationship with the forward end 20 of the rocket body 10. The rocket and its contents then is in condition to be launched and may be stored in this condition until launching is desired.

The wads 30 and 66 may be formed from similar material, such as certain forms of cotton which preferably are nonignitable. Said wads primarily function to prevent damage to the somewhat fragile, compactly formed kite 32, especially during the ejection of the kite from the rocket body 12 after pushing the parachute 24 and nose 22 ahead of it when the delay charge 44 and ejection charge 46 have been fired.

In accordange with conventional practice, the assembled rocket usually is disposed in a vertical position at the time of launching. The igniting mechansim then is placed in engagement with the solid propellant 42 of the rocket engine 16 and the burning thereof generates rapidly expanding gas which is discharged through the ceramic nozzle of a commercial type of rocket engine available in various sizes adapted to launch specified rockets to various heights. After such height has been attained, the delay charge and the ejection charge then are fired to eject the kite, parachute and the nose through the forward end of the rocket body. Following this, the parachute 24 opens and permits the rocket body 12 to descend gently to the ground and such descent effectively separates said connected, descending elements from the kite 32 which, being connected to the tether cord 58 which has been rapidly paid out from the spool 60, renders the kite controllable by the operator located either upon the ground or other type of launching site. The kite may be brought to the launching site by coiling the tether cord 58 upon the spool 60 in conventional manner.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that the present invention provides a novel and entertaining combination of a minature rocket within which a kite may be contained for projection into the atomsphere to a desired, substanial height before the kite is ejected from the rocket and thereby launched at said substanial height which places it at that height much more rapidly than could be achieved by normal methods of launching kites such as by depending entirely upon the wind to launch the kite from the ground for example. The parachute which is connected to the rocket body permits retrieval of the rocket, including all parts thereof. By restoring all of the elements, including the kite, to the stored positioned within the rocket body in the manner described above, and replacing the rocket engine 16 with a new one, which is accomplished quickly, a second launching of the rocket and kite may be undertaken immediately.

While the invention has been described and illustrated in its several preferred embodiments, it should be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the precise details herein illustrated and described since the same may be carried out in other ways falling within the scope of the invention as illustrated and described.

I claim:

l. A collapsible sheet type kite adapted to be folded transversely to form a compact configuration in cross section and having stiffening members extending longitudinally thereof, and a tether cord connected at one end to said kite and the other end being compactly mounted for ready longitudinal extension from a launching site, in combination with. a miniature toy-like rocket having an elongated body having a hollow interior within which said kite is contained in compactly folded but readily slidable condition, a rocket engine mounted in the normally rearward end of said rocket body, said engine having a main propellant charge to carry the rocket body aloft when fired and a delay charge adapted to fire and project the kite from the normally forward end of said rocket body when aloft, a parachute folded and stored in said forward end of said rocket body and having shroud means connected thereto, a nose mounted in said forward end of said rocket body, a cord connected between said body and nose, and means connecting said parachute shroud to said connected nose and body, said tether cord on said kite extending from said rocket body to the launching site for said rocket.

2. The kite and rocket combination according to claim 1 in which said kite tether cord extends longitudinally along the compactly folded kite within said rocket body and extends outwardly therefrom between said nose and forward end of said body and then to the compactly mounted body of said cord adapted to be projected with said kite when launched by said rocket.

3. The kite and rocket combination according to claim 1 in which said rocket body has a projecting wad of soft material therein between said delay charge of said rocket engine and the adjacent end of said compactly folded kite within said body, whereby said kite is protected from the blast of said delay charge when fired to project said kite and parachute from said parachute body.

4. The kite and rocket combination according to claim 1 in which said kite is formed from thin pliable sheet synthetic resin and said stiffening members being fastened longitudinally to the sheet of said kite and spaced transversely apart when said kite is extended in flight.

5. The kite and rocket combination according to claim 4 in which said stiffening members also are spaced inwardly from the opposite side edges of said kite sheet and a pair of similar bridle cords respectively connected at one end respectively to the opposite side edges of said kite sheet and the opposite ends of said bridle cords being connected together and to said one end of said tether cord. 

1. A collapsible sheet type kite adapted to be folded transversely to form a compact configuration in cross section and having stiffening members extending longitudinally thereof, and a tether cord connected at one end to said kite and the other end being compactly mounted for ready longitudinal extension from a launching site, in combination with a miniature toy-like rocket having an elongated body having a hollow interior within which said kite is contained in compactly folded but readily slidable condition, a rocket engine mounted in the normally rearward end of said rocket body, said engine having a main propellant charge to carry the rocket body aloft when fired and a delay charge adapted to fire and project the kite from the normally forward end of said rocket body when aloft, a parachute folded and stored in said forward end of said rocket body and having shroud means connected thereto, a nose mounted in said forward end of said rocket body, a cord connected between said body and nose, and means connecting said parachute shroud to said connected nose and body, said tether cord on said kite extending from said rocket body to the launching site for said rocket.
 2. The kite and rocket combination according to claim 1 in which said kite tether cord extends longitudinally along the compactly folded kite within said rocket body and extends outwardly therefrom between said nose and forward end of said body and then to the compactly mounted body of said cord adapted to be projected with said kite when launched by said rocket.
 3. The kite and rocket combination according to claim 1 in which said rocket body has a projecting wad of soft material therein between said delay charge of said rocket engine and the adjacent end of said compactly folded kite within said body, whereby said kite is protected from the blast of said delay charge when fired to project said kite and parachute from said parachute body.
 4. The kite And rocket combination according to claim 1 in which said kite is formed from thin pliable sheet synthetic resin and said stiffening members being fastened longitudinally to the sheet of said kite and spaced transversely apart when said kite is extended in flight.
 5. The kite and rocket combination according to claim 4 in which said stiffening members also are spaced inwardly from the opposite side edges of said kite sheet and a pair of similar bridle cords respectively connected at one end respectively to the opposite side edges of said kite sheet and the opposite ends of said bridle cords being connected together and to said one end of said tether cord. 